Thank you for this! My friends and I have always felt great fondness for Katia and Yags. And Scotty was pretty much an honourary Canadian! At SC, Fernandez got a standing O, according to what I saw on tv.

i find all of this discussion disheartening to say the least. Goldenskate used to be a forum where the merits of the skating were discussed politely and, at times, different posters agreed to disagree. During the last few years this has changed and there is now blatant dislike of skaters with rude and snide comments regarding their appearance, nationality etc.
Would i have had the results a little different? Yes, but i am not about to declare a conspiracy against suzuki. Especially given that the panel was an international panel.
The treatment of patrick chan has also been disgusting at times on this forum. The sarcastic remarks etc. Do nothing to help us have proper discussions about our sport.

All this bickering is such a waste of energy. Seriously people. Get it together. It's a sport. A subjective sport. Osmond perfomed 2 very solid programs. Suzuki had a bad short program. If she had a clean short she would have won. They are both incredible skaters. Skate Canada routinely holds great events, just as do the other federations. How about we spend a bit more time putting good positive energy out there in this world. All those negative passionate thoughts are creating more negativity in your lives. Let it go.

I find all of this discussion disheartening to say the least. Goldenskate used to be a forum where the merits of the skating were discussed politely and, at times, different posters agreed to disagree. During the last few years this has changed and there is now blatant dislike of skaters with rude and snide comments regarding their appearance, nationality etc.
Would I have had the results a little different? Yes, but I am not about to declare a conspiracy against Suzuki. Especially given that the panel was an international panel.
The treatment of Patrick Chan has also been disgusting at times on this forum. The sarcastic remarks etc. do nothing to help us have proper discussions about our sport.

I definitely agree with you regarding the first point. As RD said, I do think it can get a little hostile in here, especially over something that in the long run isn't that big of a deal. As Mr. P says, you should get outraged when you lose someone you love or in times of extreme injustice. Akiko Suzuki losing at Skate Canada, while I think she got the short end of the stick, isn't one of those times. In the end, Akiko Suzuki looks posed to do well this season and I think she'll do well at NHK and make the GPF pretty easily. And I'm going to probably watch her FS 70 more times.

That said, I hope that it's clear that many posters are making some valid points questioning the results without resorting to personal attacks of the skater's nationality or appearance. At least I'm trying to!

All this bickering is such a waste of energy. Seriously people. Get it together. It's a sport. A subjective sport. Osmond perfomed 2 very solid programs. Suzuki had a bad short program. If she had a clean short she would have won. They are both incredible skaters. Skate Canada routinely holds great events, just as do the other federations. How about we spend a bit more time putting good positive energy out there in this world. All those negative passionate thoughts are creating more negativity in your lives. Let it go.

Totally agree. Some posters are venomous in their anger. I hope they are given an infraction.
There is nothhing wrong with having a different opinion but state it with civility. One shudders to think of the kind of upbringing these people have.

I was watching the competition on UniversalSports TV, and a comment was made that the audience was none too happy over the outcome of the Men's FS. Yes, they applauded, but it wasn't anywhere near the deafening roar that Chan would have received if he had won.

What was noticeable in every warmup group was the Canadian skaters got huge cheers and it was almost embarrassing that most of the other skaters in the group hardly got any reaction when their names were announced.

I've been to competitions, too. I've been in the unfortunate position more than once to sit in front of a group of Canadians who cheered and whistled deafeningly for every single Canadian skater, good or bad, but showed little or no interest in the other skaters. Maybe every non-Canadian skater is not a Takahashi or a Plushenko, but that doesn't mean they should be ignored. In no way is it justifiable to stand up and roar for a Liam Firus but sit on one's hands for a Ross Miner.

I was at the event last night. Javier got a standing ovation at the end of his performance, while not many people stood for Patrick. When Patrick's marks came up, the buzz was one of confusion as to how he had beaten Nobunari. The people around me (Canadian people, at that) were all saying they were hoping Javier would skate well enough to win so Patrick wouldn't yet again win with a sloppy performance. People were happy with Javier's skate, as evidenced by the standing ovation he received, and people were happy Javier won. If people weren't happy, they wouldn't have bothered to stay for the medal ceremony- almost everyone stayed for it.

Javier trains in Canada and is coached by Brian Orser, so he is likely regarded by some as an honorary Canadian. Nothing wrong with that. Canadian audiences would likely still cheer for him, but surely they cheer more because he is coached by a beloved Canadian skater. I love Javi too and its nice to see him win SC, especially after missing out last year with two good performances.

In regard to inquiry -- Of course not! I agree with the person who said the title of this thread presupposes that the ISU will ever investigate itself. But clearly in this case, it doesn't make sense to launch an investigation. That's like swatting at a pesky fly with a hammer and an ax.

Were the Universal sports commentators actually in the rink, or do they perform the broadcast sitting in a studio watching a feed on a monitor?

I suspect much of the audience are not die-hard figure skating fans, but just casual fans who decided to attend a local event while they had the opportunity. They may not know who the skaters are, much less where they train or who their coach was. They likely assume most foreign skaters live and train in their home country. Some people who attend CSOI, don't even know who V/M are, although most know Kurt and Joannie (after the Vancouver publicity). Honorary Canadian? Javier who?

... Some people who attend CSOI, don't even know who V/M are, although most know Kurt and Joannie (after the Vancouver publicity). Honorary Canadian? Javier who?

Really? I find it hard to believe that the average Canadian doesn't know who Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are. After all, they won gold in Vancouver! Please forgive my ignorance. I thought that many Canadians are avid followers of figure skating, especially those attending a GP skating event. Of course, it makes sense that not everyone in the audience is necessarily that knowledgeable about the sport. Still I thought that figure skating coverage in Canada is much more prominent than it is in the U.S.

Anyway, during the warm-ups, I believe the announcer introduces each skater and mentions who they are coached by. I don't know if that happened at Skate Canada since I didn't see a live stream. But if Brian Orser was mentioned as Javier's coach, I'd be surprised if most audience members didn't know that Brian Orser is a former Canadian champion and Olympic silver medalist. Honorary Canadian or not, Javier Fernandez is a talented skater deserving of his win. I read somewhere that Javier (from Spain) was treating Hanyu (from Japan) like a younger brother when they recently competed at Finlandia Trophy. And, I also remember reading that Brian Orser is like a "father figure" to Javier (and perhaps now to Yuzuru too, I suppose). One big happy family.

Really? I find it hard to believe that the average Canadian doesn't know who Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are. After all, they won gold in Vancouver! Please forgive my ignorance. I thought that many Canadians are avid followers of figure skating, especially those attending a GP skating event. Of course, it makes sense that not everyone in the audience is necessarily that knowledgeable about the sport. Still I thought that figure skating coverage in Canada is much more prominent than it is in the U.S.

Anyway, during the warm-ups, I believe the announcer introduces each skater and mentions who they are coached by. I don't know if that happened at Skate Canada since I didn't see a live stream. But if Brian Orser was mentioned as Javier's coach, I'd be surprised if most audience members didn't know that Brian Orser is a former Canadian champion and Olympic silver medalist. Honorary Canadian or not, Javier Fernandez is a talented skater deserving of his win. I read somewhere that Javier (from Spain) was treating Hanyu (from Japan) like a younger brother when they recently competed at Finlandia Trophy. And, I also remember reading that Brian Orser is like a "father figure" to Javier (and perhaps now to Yuzuru too, I suppose). One big happy family.

Yeah, Orser mentioned during our chat at SA that Javier and Yuzuru actually worked pretty well together. And with Elene, must be fun to have such a diverse group!

Speaking of Elene, it's too bad about her poor showing in the FS, but I think it came from the pressure of being first for the first time -- I think the commentators mentioned that this was the first time she's won a short program GP ever. But she looks quite good out there. She looks very fit and I expect she will improve throughout the season!